China is a hot bed for pirates and
other nefarious activities that plague the software and technology
sectors. Many coordinated attacks against computer networks at a
myriad of different companies are suspected to originate from
China.

Reuters reports that a recent attack that
originated in China was carried out against Google and 20 other
companies and was apparently an attempt by the hackers to steal
valuable intellectual properties and source code from the sites.
Google has said that the attack against it resulted in the loss of IP
and code and that it was currently evaluating
the viability of its operations in China after being hit with
hacking attempts and IP theft. Google is currently the leading U.S.
search firm in China.

Reuters reports that the
attackers also targeted
Adobe Systems, but Adobe claims that while its network was
attacked, it had no stolen IP. The hackers apparently tried to take
advantage of vulnerabilities in Adobe's Acrobat and Reader software
that is widely used. Interestingly, McAfee predicted that exploits
against Adobe software would outnumber the exploits targeted at
Microsoft software in 2010.

The flaws in the Adobe software
were addressed in a critical patch released by Adobe yesterday
reports Reuters. The vulnerabilities allow an attacker to
inject code into a computer once a PDF file was opened. Google has
stated that in a similar attack in September 1 of the goals of the
attack was in part to compromise Gmail accounts.

Microsoft
has stated that its email service was not hacked. A Microsoft
spokesman told Reuters that, "We have no indication that
any of our mail properties have been compromised."

"The whole principle [of censorship] is wrong. It's like demanding that grown men live on skim milk because the baby can't have steak." -- Robert Heinlein